Saturday, January 27, 2018

BREAKING: US-led coalition helicopter has killed at least 7 members of #Iraq's armed forces and wounded another 11 after striking a convoy that had just arrested a high-ranking Da'ish commander during a early morning raid in Al-Baghdadi, western Anbar province.

AFP states at least 8 people were killed including one woman and, "The friendly fire incident drew swift criticism of the US
military presence in Iraq from pro-Iranian figures in Baghdad."It's a cute to pretend that only pro-Iranian figures in Baghdad are bothered by the assault. It is an assault. You can dress it up with 'friendly fire' and any other cute names but it was an assault.Had it killed ISIS, it would have been called an assault.But, oops, we killed the wrong people and suddenly it's an 'incident.'Or 'friendly fire.'REUTERS notes, "A spokesman of the US-led international coalition said all its air
strikes are carried out at the request of the Iraqi security forces."Well maybe that's why you don't put the US military under the control of Iraqi forces -- forces known to go after Sunnis, Kurds and various religious minorities -- the area struck, though not identified as such by the press, is Sunni. That's a key detail and how telling that it's left out or that there's so much work put into not identifying the province -- Anbar. AFP also notes, "Despite
the government's declaration of victory over IS last month, the
jihadists remain active underground in several regions of Iraq,
particularly along the Euphrates Valley and in the vast desert to its
west."

#UPDATE Eight Iraqis, most of them security personnel, killed in US air strike that apparently targeted them by mistake: provincial official http://u.afp.com/o42u#AlBaghdadi

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19 replies113 retweets175 likes

Exactly.

Yes, the never-ending war drags on and supposedly it's to help the Iraqi people but no one's being helped.

WWII was a global war but it didn't take 15 years and counting to conclude.

Today the US Defense Dept announced:

Strikes in IraqThere were no reported strikes in Iraq Jan. 23-25.On Jan. 22, coalition military forces conducted a strike
consisting of one engagement against ISIS targets near Qara Tapa. The
strike destroyed an ISIS weapons cache.On Jan. 21, coalition military forces conducted two strikes consisting of three engagements against ISIS targets:-- Near Hawija, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and
destroyed a fighting position and an ISIS command-and-control center. -- Near Rutbah, a strike destroyed two ISIS tactical vehicles.On Jan. 20, coalition military forces conducted a strike
consisting of one engagement against ISIS targets near Qayyarah. The
strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

There were no reported strikes in Iraq on Jan. 19.

The following community sites -- plus NPR, Jody Watley, Cindy Sheehan and THE GUARDIAN -- updated:

Colman McCarthy is a former Washington Postcolumnist, from 1969 to 1997, and the director of The Center for Teaching Peace in Washington DC. He teaches courses on nonviolence at Georgetown Law, Georgetown undergraduate, American University, the University of Maryland and Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. He’s a pacifist, a vegetarian, and the author of several books including I’d Rather Teach Peace.

Total run time: 29:00
Host: David Swanson.
Producer: David Swanson.
Music by Duke Ellington.

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